At the present time, conventional garden hoses are meeting with wide-spread, but intermittent, usage. Such a conventional hose includes a flexible tube having a fitting at one end which is both internally and externally threaded. Such threads are commonly formed in a thin, sheet metal nipple which is susceptible of being damaged or impaired when some extraneous force or stress is applied thereto. This is particularly true for those periods during which the hose is not in use and this nipple remains unconnected to any other fitting. Such condition ordinarily occurs when the hose is rolled into a coil and stored in a basement, shed, or similar place.
While the known prior art includes examples of protectors for pipe threads and also of a tether which secures a protective cap for a lubricating fitting in position, it is singularly lacking in a device which is particularly adapted for application to the threads of a conventional garden hose and which accommodates hoses of different diametric dimensions.
Before this application was prepared, a patentability search was conducted on the present subject and this search brings to light the following patents as those found coming closest to the instant device:
______________________________________ Seiler 2,409,396 Stillwaggon 1,502,444 Averett 2,708,950 Gibbs 1,134,605 Groh et al. 2,824,579 Miller 2,599,472 Gray 3,104,681 Rothfus 1,712,232 Yocum 3,586,654 Pinder 2,622,759 ______________________________________
A brief comment is made on the more pertinent of these prior art patents as follows:
Groh et al.
This patent discloses the broad concept of providing a thread protector for a pipe end which is temporarily secured in effective position. It is recognized that a garden hose falls within the term of a pipe. This patented device is lacking in a tether for securing the thread-protecting cap in position on the pipe or hose, as the case may be.
Gray
This is another example of a protector for the threaded end of a pipe. FIG. 3 of this patent discloses an externally threaded pipe end and a protector therefor but is lacking in a tether.
Yokum
This patent is to a removable seal for the externally threaded end of a fitting. It also is lacking in a tether for the seal.
Miller
This patent discloses the closest approach to the tethered protective cap for the threaded end of a garden hose. A tether is shown in the form of a flexible strap 15 which shows a protective cap for a lubricating fitting in position. The cap is not a thread protector.
No comment is made on the remaining references other than to point out that they are believed to complete the picture of the pertinent prior art relating to the present subject.